Sun and Stars
by Kalira69
Summary: Shiro and Keith's relationship is marked by the quiet moments together. (Written for Sheith Positivity Summer Week, Day 2.)


Written for Sheith Positivity Summer Week Day 2 - Sun/Stars.

* * *

Shiro paused at the doorway, swallowing against the sudden thickness in his throat. He had expected Keith to be on the roof, yes, Matt had told him to look up here, but he hadn't expected. . .

Keith looked relaxed, more than Shiro usually saw him - Keith was always easy in his own skin, but he was always so tense, too. Watchful. Even as he'd come to be a little more comfortable around Shiro, and Matt to an extent, that alert air never went away.

But now Keith was lounging like an indolent feline, stretched out on his back with not a bit of tension in his body. He was only wearing shorts - actually, Shiro thought, eyes wide, they might be his boxers - and boots, but he looked . . . supremely comfortable, lying in the full light of the sun. Basking.

Shiro squinted a bit as he stepped out into the sun himself, feeling it like pushing through a wall. Keith stirred lazily, one knee bending up slightly, his arms extending over his head as he took a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh.

Shiro opened his mouth, then closed it, trying not to stare _too_ much.

"Want to join me?" Keith asked, and Shiro jumped, blushing. He hadn't realised Keith had noticed his presence.

"Ah, I. . . Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Shiro said automatically, swallowing. "That is. . ."

Keith stretched, lean muscles flexing all the way down his chest and belly. The words Shiro had been about to speak scattered, flitting right out of his head.

Keith propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Shiro directly. ". . .Shiro, it wasn't a trick question." he said, cocking an eyebrow. He smiled faintly. "Do you _want_ to join me? Or did you need me for something?" he asked, smile fading and gaze suddenly sharpening.

"Oh. No, I just. . . Do you mind?" Shiro asked, stepping closer, and Keith lay back with a soft sigh, lips curling.

"I wouldn't have asked if you would bother me." Keith said, closing his eyes again.

He looked much less intense with them closed, somehow. Keith was always so fierce, but now he just looked half asleep and lazy. Not _soft_ , because his body was all slender muscle and prominent angles of bone, but gentled somehow.

"You look so relaxed." Shiro observed aloud, tentative. He picked a spot beside Keith but hopefully not too close and seated himself, stretching his legs out.

"I like the sun." Keith said lazily, his voice thick and warm. "Makes me sleepy, though."

One eye slitted open, the strong desert sun brightening the steely blue and, from this close, highlighting the deep violet streaks. "Get comfortable, Shiro." he said with a low laugh, shifting over on the thick woven blanket cushioning him from the pebbled surface of the roof. "I don't mind sharing."

Shiro coughed and scooted over onto it as well, his arm almost brushing Keith's as he lay down. He had to close his eyes against the brightness of the sun, but he could _feel_ Keith beside him, even in the oppressive heat, and he smiled.

It _was_ actually comfortable, on the blanket, and the top edge was folded over several times to add more cushioning beneath their heads. Shiro sighed, rubbing his face and then carefully letting his arm rest in the narrow space between his body and Keith's.

The heat and the sun were making _him_ sleepy, too, though he wasn't entirely sure if the heavy pressure was relaxing or not. Keith being comfortable and relaxed at his side _definitely_ was - and Keith inviting him to stay, being loose and easy with him - and Shiro smiled, his chest feeling tight for a moment with happiness and a hopeful sort of want.

Shiro asked a question without thinking, disturbing the quiet, but to his surprise Keith didn't actually seem to mind, answering in the same lazy, slow tone.

A few minutes later he offered a memory of one of his favourite places to be alone, out in the desert, before he had joined Galaxy Garrison. Shiro's eyes opened wide with surprise and he looked over at Keith and smiled, biting his lip.

He relaxed a little more, occasionally exchanging idle thoughts with Keith and eventually easing into a half-doze in the desert sun.

* * *

Keith groaned, pushing his face against his pillow and desperately trying to cling to sleep. A gentle clasp around his upper arm tugged him further away from it, though, and he sighed and gave in, twisting onto his back.

"Shiro?" Keith asked, taking a deep breath. "Wha s'it love?"

"Come with me?" Shiro coaxed, smiling. Keith sighed again, but he knew he wouldn't refuse Shiro - he wouldn't have anyway, but he couldn't tell Shiro no when he was wearing that charming, sweet smile.

Keith sat up with a yawn, nodding agreement. Shiro slid out of his way and offered Keith his jeans.

Drat, not just out of bed, Shiro wanted him to leave their room then. Keith pulled them on obligingly, though, and let himself be drawn to his feet. Shiro tugged him closer, nuzzling his cheek, and then led the way out into the night-dimmed corridors without waiting for Keith to put anything else on.

Padding after Shiro barefoot, Keith's toes curled against the chill floor of the hallway. A shiver ran up his spine, but the cool contact woke him up a little more as they walked.

Shiro led them high up in the Castle, long corridors mostly blending together - all shining whites and soft greys, lit with the ever-present blue lines, dimmed for the night cycle. The room Shiro tugged him into was darker still, though, and yet brighter as well - there were no blue lights here, to Keith's surprise - it was all but open to the galaxy around them, and while velvety blackness swallowed them up, the lights of the stars mingled in a dozen colours glowing across the floor.

There was a single interruption to the smooth, near-reflective floor. Keith smiled as Shiro led him to the plush nest near the windows. He let Shiro sit down first, then settled beside him, leaning against his shoulder and coiling one arm around his own.

"When the Princess stopped the Castle here, so close to. . ." Shiro gestured out through the windows. The Castle was drifting ever so slowly, and there was an impressive spiral of stars wheeling around them with that movement. "Well. I thought we should . . . appreciate the view while we have it."

Keith held back a fond laugh, nodding, and tilted his head back to kiss Shiro's cheek.

Shiro's arm curled tighter around him, pressing him snug against his lover's side. Then he lay back, loosening his grip so as not to drag Keith with him. As soon as he settled, though, Keith leaned back beside him.

Shiro hummed contentedly. Keith nudged his arm out a little further from his body, settling into the gap and resting his head against the powerful muscle that made a comfortable cushion of Shiro's shoulder. Shiro's fingers curled, trailing up and down his hip and belly.

Keith squirmed and got a little more settled, stretching out. Even then it was an easy fit, Keith tucked neatly between Shiro's arm and his body, but he'd never minded the way Shiro dwarfed him when they shared space.

"Worth waking up for, love?" Shiro asked after the silence had stretched out comfortably for a time. It held the lightness of a tease, but it didn't sound _only_ playful either.

Keith smoothed his fingers over Shiro's, winding their hands together. "Mm, yes." he assured Shiro softly, thumb rubbing back and forth over his lover's knuckles. He smiled up at the stars, feeling disconnected from everything _but_ Shiro as he watched them turn.

Keith and Shiro drifting lazily together through space among the bright, colourful points.

* * *

From the first part:  
Shiro gets sunburnt lying out in the desert sun with Keith. Later, Keith comes by with aloe vera gel, and helps Shiro get it across his face evenly while giving a (needless) apology. Shiro kisses him for being awkward, sweet, and adorable, then flails a bit in a panic at having done so.

And that's how they got together.

(Matt has been trying to set them up for six months but they're both idiots and he's so sick of hearing about Keith's _everything_ as Shiro pines. He's very smug when this worked, although granted he was hoping that Shiro would _say_ something after being sent up to find Keith alone and shirtless - it's still the product of his plan, it still counts. Unfortunately for him, a week later Shiro begins sighing over Keith to him again only now with more detail. But at least his best friend is happy.)


End file.
